Religion: Rumi – from scholar to saint

Rumi, the great Sufi poet, was actually a scholar of sharia law (Islamic law). His responsibilities included making legal rulings and giving unapologetic lectures on how to resolve conflicts.

One day, a man in rags approached Rumi and changed everything. The following exchange, according to legend, occurred:

Pointing to Rumi’s legal books,

the man in rags asked,

‘What’s this?’

–

‘You wouldn’t understand’,

Rumi responded disdainfully.

–

The man in rags

fixed Rumi in a stern gaze,

waved his arm,

and set the legal books on fire.

He waves his arm a second time,

and the books went back to their normal appearance.

–

Shocked at what happened,

Rumi asked,

‘What was that?’

–

‘You wouldn’t understand’,

the man in rags said.

He then disappeared.

The man in rags was Shams of Tabriz. After meeting him, Rumi decided to end his profession as a scholar of sharia to follow the mystical path of love and spirituality (Sufism) which Shams of Tabriz represented.